Karol G poured her soul into her new album Ocean (Universal Music Latin) out today. The Colombian singer, 28, says the title and concept of her second record came to her as she was watching the ocean over a year ago in Spain. “I love the ocean, I love looking at it, I feel that in another life I was born there and it’s a part of me. That’s why I did this parallel between the ocean, life and music,” she tells PEOPLE Chica. “The ocean is something that gives life and also takes it away, it can be calm or tempestuous. We know very little about the ocean and life is like that too. We meet people but don’t truly know what they are going through inside. People listen to a song and don’t know who wrote it or what’s beneath that creative process.”

The album was recorded in part near the crystalline beaches of Turks and Caicos, where the photos and videos were also shot. You can almost hear the waves crashing, feel the sand beneath your feet and smell the sea salt as you listen to the record. “It has a very special vibe,” she recognizes.

Courtesy of Universal Music Latin/ Photos by Gio Alma

Her Instagram feed shows Karol G enjoying paradise beaches around the world and paddle boarding on her time off. Her “Secreto” music video opens with the signer and her boyfriend, Puerto Rican trap star Anuel AA breaking the waves in jet skis. “I feel that it’s a perfect place to connect with yourself,” the singer adds about the ocean. “In the sea, in that calm time where there is less noice and more silence, I connect with myself and that’s why I enjoy it so much.”

Like the ocean, the record is both deep and fun. It includes heartfelt ballads like “Ocean” and sexy tracks like “Punto G”. “Karol G is someone who will always sing without filters about love, heartbreak, sexuality, sensuality, partying,” says Carolina Giraldo Navarro, the star’s real name. We hear her sing in English for the first time in parts of her duet with Damian Marleytitled “Love With Quality.” She also recorded a powerful collab with Brazilian duo Simone & Simaria, infused with bossa nova flavor titled “La vida continuó” [Life continued].

Is it inspired by an ex? “More than dedicating the song to an ex specifically, it’s about the strength that you feel as a woman when you understand that what’s not for you is just not for you. I think that if someone came into your life and left, it’s for a reason and purpose,” she says.

Having a heartbreak anthem in this album was impossible, she admits with a laugh, because Karol G can’t be happier in love. “Ocean reflects my life. There is not a cortavenas spiteful song to cry to because that’s not what’s happening to me at this moment,” she says. “It’s not the mood I’m in right now. I feel happy, flirty, in love.”

Courtesy of Universal Music Latin/ Photos by Gio Alma

The singer is grateful to be Anuel AA’s “bebecita,” as the Puerto Rican singer, 26, affectionally calls her. That’s actually the title of one of her reggaetón tracks, since the nickname her boyfriend gave her has been adopted by Karol G’s legion of fans. “‘Bebecita’ is a song that had to be in the album,” she admits. “I am everyone’s ‘bebecita’ although I belong to only one person.”

Sharing the stage with Anuel AA in their hit Culpables Tour has been unforgettable. “It’s been a rollercoaster of emotions. It combines two things that I love and being able to enjoy them together fills me with emotion”, she says of music and her beau. “It makes me want to cry sometimes, the fact that we’ve had many sold-out shows, the fact that people want to see what we’re doing. They don’t only want to see Anuel or Karol G, they are supporting us both and like the combination we make. Having people connecting to what we are living [as a couple] is very special.”